Response of systemic amyloidosis to dimethyl sulfoxide

A 65-year-old women with systemic amyloidosis was given dimethyl sulfoxide orally for 4 years without significant side effects. Her cutaneous lesions improved markedly after the treatment, and she still survives in satisfactory condition.

Choroidal melanoma associated with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

A case of pigmented choroidal lesion coincident with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment was observed. The patient refused enucleation, and the retinal detachment was successfully treated by diathermy without drainage of subretinal fluid. Clinically the lesion was observed to enlarge, and upon enucleation five years after diathermy the tumor was seen to be a spindle-cell choroidal melanoma. The patient died from metastases of melanoma six years after the enucleation.

Intraocular paragonimiasis

A case of intraocular paragonimiasis is reported in a 13-year-old Chinese boy. The disease manifested as repeated attacks of acute intraocular pain associated with panuveitis. A combination of inflammatory reaction and ocular findings mimicking both perforating and contusion injuries caused by the migration of the fluke within the eye characterises the infection. The living fluke was successfully extracted from the anterior chamber and identified as Paragonimus westermani.

Results of 110 vitrectomies with a portable vitrectomy system

We retrospectively evaluated the VITAC (vitreous-tissue aspiration cutter), a portable vitrectomy system with an end-cutting vitrectomy probe with a self-sharpening oscillating blade and a monoblock design, in 110 vitrectomy procedures, 34 performed at the University of California Davis Medical Center and 76 performed at the Eye and ENT Hospital in Shanghai, China. The indications for vitrectomy included penetrating injuries (22 eyes), intraocular foreign bodies (28 eyes), vitreous hemorrhages (18 eyes), cataracts (17 eyes), endophthalmitis (seven eyes), pupillary-block glaucoma (five eyes), bullous keratopathy (five eyes), aphakic penetrating keratoplasty (three eyes), pupillary membranes (two eyes), massive preretinal proliferation (one eye), and cystoid macular edema (one eye). Vitrectomy resulted in visual improvement in 19 of 34 eyes in the California series (56%) and in 60 of the 76 eyes in the Shanghai series (79%). This difference was attributable to the higher percentages of cases involving the posterior segment and vitreous hemorrhage in the California series. When results from both institutions were combined, surgery with the VITAC produced visual improvement in 79 of 110 cases (72%), comparable to the results obtained with other vitrectomy systems.

Orbital fistula. Causes and treatment of 20 cases

A retrospective analysis of 20 cases of orbital fistula in Shanghai showed the causes to be trauma with foreign-body retention, osteomyelitis, mucocele, and dermoid cyst. Half the patients were children younger than 10 years old. Cicatricial ectropion, ptosis, and extraocular motility disturbance constituted the common clinical findings. Treatment according to the various causes included surgical removal of the foreign body, oral administration of antibiotics combined with local irrigation, radical extraction of all the epithelium lining the fistula, and excision of the fistula.

Mucoepidermoid carcinomas of the lacrimal sac

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma is a malignant tumor containing both neoplastic mucin-producing cells and epidermoid cells. To the only reported case arising in the lacrimal sac, we add three additional cases. All three were locally aggressive and required orbital exenterations. No deaths from metastatic disease occurred.

Intravitreous silicone injection. Histopathologic findings in a human eye after 12 years

Histopathologic changes occurred in a human eyeball enucleated 12 years after intravitreous silicone injection for the treatment of complicated retinal detachment with massive preretinal membrane. Silicone "bubbles" (droplets) were found in the chamber angle, iris, ciliary body, retina, and preretinal and subretinal membrane, as well as in the optic nerve. Clinically, glaucoma developed in the eye. A review of the literature indicates that the common late complications of intravitreous silicone injection are cataract, glaucoma, and retinal changes.

Clinical and histopathological report of sympathetic ophthalmia after retinal detachment surgery

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